Cleaning a Mess just makes more Mess

Argggghhhhhhh.... what a mess!!!!

This mess

and this mess

and this mess

Were all made trying to find this thing....A label maker

So that I could clean this mess!!!!!

How does this happen to me???? But at least now my sewing stuff is SUPER tidy (well it will be in a few hours).

I have been meaning to sort and clean my pantry since my friend Steff did hers. But it was Eli's comment this morning when he told me that everything was a mess. That made me think it really must be done. When a 7 year old untidy boy thinks it is a mess then it must be horrendous.

The other day i made him re tidy his room three times. In the end I was happy and he told me "That is not tidy Mum, it is pristine!".

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The last of the summer camping

This weekend felt like the last of the summer... We went camping locally again, just 1 hour up the road.
We swam - but it was a lot cooler and more like a scram (half swim half scream).
We sat outside in the sun and felt the sun beat down and make us toastly - but it was not too hot, we did not need sunscreen or get burnt and there was a feeling in the air of cooling down.
I got some hand stitching done. Actually finished - wow amazing. Though this too has taken longer. I thought I finished about 3 hexi flower ago and it just did not fit, so had to keep doing more.
We relaxed - that never changes no matter the season.

Ahhh, I am already sighing about the wonderful summer that has been.

A little bit of stitching

A busy boy making a hut

The Hut

Jakob

Eli

Our gorgeous sunny camping spot - quilts for a hut

Grrrr - fiddling with my phone.

Aaron did not have his cellphone with me so he fiddled with mine!!! I never know whether to be happy or not about that as it gets too techy for me.

Bloglovin - trying to make it available

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I have an account and it says it is set up for anyone that want to follow that way. But I have no idea how to put any kind of gizmo on my blog to allow people to click and follow. If anyone has any link they can direct me to a tutorial??? Would appreciate your help

A patchwork cross pillow

The finished cushion sitting on the couch

with the matching quilt

the back of the cushion

Well after my moan about not finishing things. I am working on the last few details of Jakob's room. The pillow to match his quilt has finally been made up. It sits on the black couch and just gives that part of the room a colour punch. I love doing cross quilts and feel another one coming on.

I am doing more DIY (gasp I know) and upgrading an old set of drawers for the final storage in Jakob's room. Hope to post that finish soon.

If you go to my previous post you can see all the details about how this is made from businessman's shirts which I got at the Op Shop (thrift store)

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DIY Genius (or not)

Well I will let you judge this for yourself. I am trying to finish off all sorts of things. I am sick of stuff half finished and hanging around. I get things 3/4's done but not completely. I am driving myself nuts!

But note to anyone who will listen - do not try to become an amazing handy woman when you also have two injured boys, are trying to cook dinner and vacumn and think that you can get some DIY in there too. You can, BUT it might not be great.

I call it modern!!! I was putting on the new door handles for Eli's room which I redecorated last May, yes I did say May. This wardrobe has not had knobs for 1 year and now he has ultra modern knobs.

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Scrummy and easy chutney

The chutney roasting in the oven

My sister in law's book

The finished chutney

As I mentioned in my post yesterday I had chutney cooking in the oven while I was working (and blogging - shhh don't tell the boss that I multitask, drat that's right- he reads this!).

Yes I swear to you this chutney is that easy. No standing over a pot for a couple of hours waiting for the chutney to thicken, worried that it will burn. I chopped the ingredients then put them in the oven to roast and then put it all into jars. How easy is that!

Oh and did I mention it is some of the best chutney ever. My husband said it was like a Barkers chutney (now you need to understand that is the highest praise possible from him. Barkers in Geraldine make the closest to homemade tasting of all jams, chutneys, sauces etc).

The recipe I used was based on a book published last year by my sister in law. Deborah Hyde-Bayne. Called Coromadel Flavour. They live in the Coromandel and these recipes are with the seasonal produce from there. This book was three years in the making. Debs has worked hard and it is a beautifully produced book.

Anyway the recipe I used as a basis was the Roasted Feijoa Chutney recipe. I used my blackboy peaches. I altered a lot of the recipe as the peaches are a lot less subtle than feijoas. So I did not use the whole spices that she used but supermarket bought ground spice. The rest of the ingredients were just what I had in the cupboard so there was a bit of substitution. But when it comes to feijoa season I am going to follow the recipe to the hilt. I loved the fact that the recipe was low salt too.

If you want to buy one of her books just click on the link above and it will take you to her site.

My Blackboy Peach recipe - this quantity made three little jars
1.1kg  Blackboy peach flesh
350g   Normal white onion
2         Long medium heat green chillies
360g   Brown sugar
1         Dessertspoon salt
115ml White Vinegar
2         Lemons - juice and zest
2         Teaspoons ground cinnamon
2         Teaspoons ground cardamon

Cut the flesh of the blackboy peaches into about 1.5cm chunks. Chop the onion quite finely. Add all the ingredients together into a smallish sized roasting dish and mix well. I used a high sided non stick slice pan, the mixture looks quite dry. Leave it to sit overnight. This releases heaps of liquid and will fill the dish up.

Roast for 2-3 hours at 180oC (I roasted two hours and it was still really runny, so I fan baked it for 30 minutes. You need to do this until the mixture caramelises (goes thick and brown and sticky)

Spoon into sterilised jars and seal. Debs recipe says to leave a week before use. It was pretty yummy at the time. This was so delicious that I am going to make a batch double this size as it will be good for presents etc.

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Overflowing with Produce

The preserving has begun

The blackboy peaches

Oh my goodness. I cannot cope with all the produce coming from the garden at the moment. The backboy peach has finally ripened - the problem with the peach is that it all ripens at once!! Last year we got 20 buckets full, I think there is more this year. So all my friends who normally come and get some - come please!! Anyone else near Kaiapoi that reads my blog and wants some, just contact me please.

Quince

I have preserved two buckets of peaches already, I have roast peach chutney in the oven as I type - I have adapted a recipe from my sister-in-law's book - Coromadel Flavour. 

I have beans that I have not been able to keep up with - but I just say that this is because they are next years seed (which they are going to be now! they were very prolific and very successful with germination).

The pears are huge and amazing cropping - the branches bending with the weight. Some of them look like they will be over .5kg each! I will weigh it when ripened.

Then onto the quinces - as usual so many on the tree that I have to giveaway as much as possible.

Rhubarb is crazy all year - the boys are happy getting rhubarb crumble for dessert (another way to get more fruit and vege into them). The zuchinni's have been given away for over a month now and still going.

The groaning pear tree

And then in a month it will be Feijoas - I am trying to do bottling or some preserving for an hour a day. The freezer is full. The shelves are groaning and we are still going!

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